


Midnight Dreary

by TheBiophone



Category: What We Do in the Shadows (TV)
Genre: Angst, Fluff and Angst, Judaism, Other, Religion, Theology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-18 22:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20199187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBiophone/pseuds/TheBiophone
Summary: Jenna gets support from an unlikely friend.





	Midnight Dreary

The sun had just set over Staten Island. Expanses of purple and orange had given way to a deep blue sky. In that sky, stars twinkled in their splendor, and the moon beamed down as a waxing crescent.

Looking up to the sky was a recently-turned vampire, who was standing atop the roof of the Staten Island Vampire Residence. She took in the sight along with a deep breath. She extended her arms out to her sides. Then, closing her eyes, she slammed her arms back down, yelling, “BAT!”

In that moment, she transformed into… something. It was a tad smaller than what she had achieved before, but one would be hard-pressed to call it a “vampire bat”,  _ per se. _ She squawked, and she returned to her human form.

At approximately that moment, another being appeared on the roof.

“Hello, Jenna,” Colin Robinson said.

Jenna peeked over her shoulder. “Oh, hi, Colin Robinson!” she said. She gave a little wave and a smile. “What are you doing up here?”

“Oh, not much,” Colin said. His eyes began glowing blue. “You’re still practicing your…  _ batcrobatics, _ are you?”

Jenna giggled a tiny bit. “Yeah, I guess you could say that!” she replied. “I’m starting to get better at it. Watch!” She repeated the transformation process and obtained the same result.

“Incredible…,” Colin muttered as Jenna flapped around.  _ I’m not getting much of a read off her, _ he thought.

“Thanks!” Jenna said, returning to her usual form. “I’ve obviously still got a ways to go, but I’m getting there!”

“Yes, definitely…,” he replied. He blinked his eyes as though there were an irritant in them. “You’re pretty determined on having the bat as your main animal form, huh?” he asked. “You’re not… you’re not going for the gecko or something like that? Because I’ve got to tell you, many are the benefits of the gecko.”

“Ah, nah,” Jenna said. “I wanna be a bat. I like how you can just, you know, fly, right? I–I’ve already got a decent grasp on that! You saw just now, right?”

“Y-yeah, oh yeah, for sure,” he said. “It’s just… have you given any consideration to any other kind of flying animal? You shouldn’t pigeon-hole yourself into mammals if you don’t want to when there are so many other options. Take the pigeon, for example! You know, a lot of people are wary of pigeons because of their potential to carry disease—and rightly so, you know, I mean… you wouldn’t want to go to Manhattan and start petting the pigeons. You might as well start petting the squirrels. Squirrels are another good animal form. I mean, I know you said you wanted something flying, but I think you’ll find squirrels are quite charming in their way. They can crawl through tight spaces and make nimble escapes from sticky situations… unless that sticky situation is a glue trap, but in that case, you can just return to your normal form, and then the glue trap is just a minor inconvenience, you know?”

He looked at Jenna. He saw that her eyes were glimmering in the moonlight. “Wowie!” she said. “You sure know a lot about transfiguration—especially for somebody who probably doesn’t have to use it much, huh?”

Colin stood frozen for a second. “Y-yeah, I guess I—I guess I do know things,” he said.  _ I can’t believe this, _ he thought.  _ Nothing! _

She asked him, “What’s it like being an energy vampire?” 

He paused for a moment. “It’s… okay,” he said. “Definitely beats being a nightwalker, in my opinion. Real glad I don’t have to go around killing people for sustenance.”

Jenna bit her bottom lip—being careful not to use her fangs in doing so. “Yeah, that’s… not the greatest part of being a regular vampire,” she said. “Like, when you’re in the heat of it, it’s exhilarating, but… I still can’t shake the feeling that I shouldn’t. I think it’s  _ pikuach nefesh, _ but… would a vampire count as a human life? I was a human before I was turned, but… you know. A-and that’s not even getting into the matter of  _ who _ I’d get to kill, and  _ when, _ and  _ why….  _ Nadja said I ‘can do no wrong,’ but… it’s hard, you know?”

A small wave of frustration hit Colin. However, it was accompanied by a greater sense of grief. Colin squeezed his eyes shut.  _ I don’t like this, _ he thought. Out loud, he said, “Well, you know, Jenna, I’ve heard some rabbis talk about the nature of vampires, and while I know consulting one yourself may be difficult for, uh, obvious reasons…,” he swallowed sharply before finishing, “... I could ask around for you, if you’d like. See what there is to… see.”

The young one’s face lit up. Her eyes were now glistening in the moonlight. “Really?” she asked. “You would do that for me, Colin Robinson?”

“Y-yeah, for sure,” he said. “I’d be stopping in to feed anyway, so, like… two birds with one stone, right?”

“Yeah!” Jenna cheered. “Thank you, Colin Robinson!”

“You’re welcome,” he replied. “And, uh, you can just call me ‘Colin’ if you’d like. ‘Colin Robinson’ is what… it’s what a lot of people call me, but it’s not what everyone calls me.”

“Good to know,” Jenna said, smiling.

“Well, I’d best be on my way,” he said. “Better leave you to your bat practice. Good luck with that, by the way! Hopefully, you don’t crash into anything too badly.”

“Thanks, Colin,” Jenna said.

With that, Colin disappeared into the ether. When he landed back in the foyer of the house, he rubbed his temples.  _ I cannot believe that just happened,  _ he thought.  _ That fledgeling is too powerful. She just… can’t be beat down. Not in matters vampiric, anyway. _

He took a deep breath.

_ Maybe I’ll have a better shot with Guillermo. _

**Author's Note:**

> I got the idea for this fic the second that deleted scene was released last July. I've only now gotten around to posting because... reasons, I guess.
> 
> Somebody on Tumblr posted about their hc of Jenna being Jewish and discussing pikuach nefesh with her family. That was interesting to me, so I took a shot at it here. I really hope I've understood the concept(s) properly and am completely open to correction if I haven't.


End file.
